CD CORNER: HALL OF FAME : ’88 Inductees Within Earshot

It’s easy to sample on CD the music of four of the five artists who will be inducted Wednesday into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: the Beach Boys, the Beatles, Bob Dylan and the Supremes.

However, there is currently only one CD devoted to the fifth inductee, the Drifters--and that CD (“The Drifters’ Golden Years”) features only the post-1958 work of the classic R & B vocal group. That leaves unavailable on CD the Drifters’ earlier, hugely influential tracks. These selections--featuring lead vocals by Clyde McPhatter--ranged from the gritty “Money Honey” to a marvelous interpretation of “White Christmas.”

The irony is that the Drifters recorded for Atlantic Records, whose chairman, Ahmet Ertegun, is the guiding force behind the Hall of Fame. Compounding the irony is the fact that Ertegun co-produced many of the unavailable-on-CD pre-’58 numbers.

The Drifters’ CD situation is typical of the way record companies often offer CD packages by veteran artists that simply duplicate existing vinyl albums or cassettes, rather than tailor a comprehensive “best of” package for the CD market.

In this case, Atlantic, a leader in recent years in quality repackages, can easily put together a more appropriate package by combining its 36-minute “The Drifters/The Early Years” (released on vinyl in 1971) and the current 30-minute Drifters CD. There’s even a ready-made title: “The Drifters’ Hall of Fame Sounds.”

Recommended CD albums for the other 1988 Hall of Fame inductees:

Beach Boys--”Made in the U.S.A.” (Capitol) is an excellent 64-minute collection that showcases both the early teen celebrations and the darker, more complex songs like “Caroline No.”

Beatles--”Sgt. Pepper” is indispensable because it defines an era, but the music is more rewarding on other key Capitol/EMI albums: “A Hard Day’s Night” (the early exuberance), “Revolver” and “Rubber Soul” (the artistic flowering), “Magical Mystery Tour” (includes some of the group’s boldest and most affecting tunes) and “Abbey Road” (a heroic final stand).

Bob Dylan--”Biograph” is a three-disc set that provides a helpful overview of rock’s most important writer, but several individual CDs are also mandatory. Starting points on Columbia Records: “Bringing It All Back Home,” “Highway 61 Revisited,” “Blonde on Blonde,” “Blood on the Tracks” and “Slow Train Coming.”

The Supremes--”Anthology,” a two-disc set offering more than two hours of music, traces the vocal trio’s Motown career from the pre-”Where Did Our Love Go?” days to the post-Ross success of “Nathan Jones.”